The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) has set up a task force to monitor the recovery of provident fund dues worth over ₹21,000 crore, Moneycontrol reported. A separate cell has also been formed to monitor the recovery of dues from companies undergoing liquidation. The dues have reportedly been categorised as either immediately realisable or non-immediately realisable.

Graph AI, a California-based life-sciences startup founded in 2024, has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The capital will fuel its flagship platform, Graph Safety, which automates pharmacovigilance tasks such as adverse-event reporting and compliance. Clients have reported up to 70% efficiency gain and 90% faster regulatory workflows.

Microsoft plans to manufacture the majority of its new products outside of China starting in 2026 amid growing China-US tensions, Nikkei reported. The move will include the production of Surface devices and data centre servers. According to the report, Microsoft has already shifted some of its existing server production and also aims to manufacture more Xbox consoles outside China.

Jio Financial Services reported strong results for the quarter ending 30 September 2025. Consolidated total income rose to ₹1,002 crore, up 44% year-on-year. Net income from business surged fivefold to ₹317 crore. Profit after tax reached ₹695 crore. Growth was driven by NBFC, payments bank, asset management, and digital financial services, with JFSL expanding its digital and physical footprint.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh said the recent hike in H-1B visa fee will not affect the IT major. "In our US workforce, the number of people who require Infosys sponsorship for immigration is a minority, so the majority of the people don't require it from our perspective,” stated Parekh. In September, the US hiked the fee to $100,000.

Mumbai Police’s Economic Offences Wing's probe on IndusInd Bank's treasury fraud case doesn't indicate siphoning of bank funds, whether to personal accounts of its ex-officials or to any shell companies, Moneycontrol reported. This comes as the bank reported accounting discrepancy in March, which has an impact of ₹2,000-crore. Police has so far questioned seven people in connection with the case.

Infosys hired 12,000 freshers for first half of FY26, and is on track to reach its 20,000 fresher hiring target for this year, CFO Jayesh Sanghrajka said. The attrition for Q2 FY26 fell to 14.3%, from Q1's 14.4% on a last-twelve-month basis. It also announced its fifth consecutive quarter of net headcount addition, with 8,203 employees being added in Q2.

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) standardises how AI models access external tools and data safely. It defines context sharing, plugin interfaces, and permission layers, allowing interoperability between AI agents. This open standard accelerates ecosystem growth and security in agentic AI systems, ensuring models can collaborate while maintaining privacy, version control, and reliability.

Venture builders are evolving with agentic AI, no-code tools, and shared-service hubs that reduce time-to-market. They integrate ESG frameworks, decentralised funding models, and cross-sector collaboration for sustainable scaling. These trends shift venture creation from intuition-driven to data-led, enabling founders to test, validate, and pivot ideas more efficiently than traditional startups.

The dual goal of boosting revenue and cutting costs requires smarter pricing, automation, and data-driven decisions. AI-powered analytics uncover hidden inefficiencies, while predictive maintenance and cloud migration lower expenses. Upselling existing customers, diversifying channels, and improving operational workflows balance profitability with efficiency, driving sustainable margin expansion.